Fire and Straw
by Anjelle
Summary: A collection of disconnected AU drabbles centring around the D brothers. Based around requested prompts. Set as complete but updates sporadically.
1. Cheiloproclitic

**So just like with my MarcoAce drabbles, I made a story on here for all the meme/drabble requests I get on my tumblr, this one for AceLu :) As such, it'll be updated whenever I write an AceLu drabble on there, so there's no set update and it'll be marked as complete even though it isn't. Enjoy~**

* * *

**Cheiloproclitic -** Being attracted to someone's lips.

* * *

Dinner always ended the same way: with Luffy staring intently at his mouth. He fidgeted in place each and every time, those wide, owlish eyes watching him unflinchingly as he ate. He never addressed it, never brought it up in conversation, but it was more than a little unnerving. Even a bottomless pit like Ace lost his appetite after something like that. The only way it could've been more awkward was if the brat had a damn video camera.

Finally he'd had enough, setting his fork and knife down on the table. "Lu," he called, startling the boy from his shameless gawking. A smile broke out on his face as his eyes scrolled up to his brother's. "What is it?"

"Hm?"

"You keep staring at me."

"Oh! Shishishi, sorry. I was thinking."

Luffy, _thinking? _That wasn't a very believable cover story, not in the least. He never thought he'd hear that word paired with his brother's name. But he'd humour the boy, if only to tease him about it later. "Oh yeah? What about?"

The teen glanced down at Ace's dinner plate before licking his lips, looking back at his brother. "Ace's food looks so good! Can I have a taste? Can I?"

He blinked, not expecting that. But Luffy and food went hand in hand, so he should have. Ordinarily he'd refuse, knowing it would more than likely end with his plate licked clean, but he supposed if it would keep him from mindlessly looking at him then that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. So, with a resigned sigh, he pushed his plate over to his little brother. "Go right a—"

Suddenly there was a light touch against his lips, his brother's face flush with his. He felt a tongue slip into his mouth and slowly, as the surprise wore off, he returned the kiss, giving into it. Moments later they parted, his brother giving him a grin.

"Thanks, Ace! Tastes great!"

Pouting, he trapped the younger in a headlock. "You little shit! Warn me next time!"

"Shishishi!"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed, and please review if you can!**

**Adieu~**


	2. Apodyopis

**Apodyopis - **The act of mentally undressing someone.

* * *

Seeing Ace walk in completely drenched wasn't much of a surprise; Sabo _warned_ them that it was going to rain later in the day but, returning from work, it seemed the eldest brother hadn't listened. Luffy sat at the kitchen island, a warm cup of hot cocoa between his hands to stave off the rain's chill. He greeted Ace with a smile, listening to the other's mumbled curses about how stupid the weather was, rambling excuses for why he hadn't cautioned an umbrella when he left for his job earlier in the day.

After vanishing down the hall, Ace returned with a towel, lifting it onto his head to first dry his hair. Luffy watched, eyes scrolling down to the collar of his brother's shirt, then lower to his chest. Faintly he could see the colour of his skin through the shirt, the soaked fabric sticking to his muscles, moving slightly as he dried his hair. It wasn't long before he found his mind removing the white cloth, his sibling instead standing topless in his eyes, and Luffy couldn't say that he was opposed to it. Curious, he lowered his eyes, settling on the top of his pants loosely hugging the man's hips. What would…

Meat. All he was seeing was meat—not the meat he was expecting either. A chicken leg. He blinked at the image, shaking his head to free himself of it. It was, however, futile, ending instead with the food item doubling. More appeared—a cooked ham, steak, a full, steaming turkey…

His stomach growled. Man was he hungry.

Suddenly Ace arrived in front of him and he gaped up, realizing that his brother really _was_ shirtless, the towel hung loosely around his shoulders. It took him a moment to notice that his sibling stole his hot cocoa while he was spacing out, watching it as a teasing grin played on the elder's face.

"I'll be taking this, little bro," he stated mockingly as he sipped from the mug.

"Hey! That's mine, Ace!"

He laughed. "Alright, alright," he conceded, dipping low to Luffy's forehead, caressing his hair with his free hand. "If I make dinner will you forgive me?"

Immediately the younger's face brightened. "Okay, I forgive you! Shishishi!"

Ace laughed. "Same ol' Lu."

* * *

**Adieu~**


	3. Camp Counsellors AU

**Camp Counsellors!AU**

* * *

Ace wasn't too happy about being roped into counselling for some stupid kids' camp. He hated kids. Camping was fun, but not with brats running around everywhere. Fortunately the counsellors were given their space at night, two to each cabin. At least that meant that the next two weeks wouldn't be spent pulling out his hair—or, well, his scalp would get a rest at night, at least.

He stepped inside his cabin and the first thing he noticed was a large, over-stuffed bag on one of the beds. Blinking, he took a few absent steps forward and dropped his own luggage atop the other mattress, looking over with slight curiosity. A scent caught in his nose and his mouth started watering.

_…Meat?_

The young man's eyes scrolled down when he heard a faint shuffling to see a pair of gangly legs sticking out from beneath the bed frame. He wasn't really… sure how to react to that, so he just stood there and watched them wiggle.

"Uh, hey…" he called after a time, receiving no answer from the person still trying to maneuver beneath the mattress. "Need help or something?"

"Shh," a voice called from the legs, "I'm hiding."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not doing a very good job of it. I can see you."

The legs wriggled their way deeper under the bed and the boy, looking a little too young to be a counsellor, turned to peek up at him from within the shadows, pressing his finger to his lips in a show of silence. He was about to ask just what the hell was going on when the door to the room was reopened and in walked a pale blond, eyeing every inch of the room with suspicion.

"Can I… help you?" Ace chanced, confusion prominent in the crease of his brow.

"This is his room…" the blond mumbled, pressing a thoughtful finger to his chin. "Have you seen—" He cut himself off and immediately paced over to the bed, yanking the overstuffed bag off of it and earning a whine from down below.

"Saboooooo!"

"There you are. No, Luffy, no hoarding snacks. The kids cause enough trouble without you joining them."

"But I'm hungryyyyy!"

"Tough," he replied with a smirk, turning to face Ace as he slung the bag over his shoulder. "Sorry about that. Carry on," and he strolled out of the room like nothing ever happened.

The boy, Luffy, crawled out from under the bed with a pout. "Can you believe that? He took my meat!"

Ace blinked. How does one react to that?

And suddenly the pout was gone, and a grin was in its place accompanied by an outstretched hand. "I'm Luffy! Who're you?"

"Ace," he replied, giving his hand a firm shake. "What—"

"Hey," Luffy called.

"Huh?"

"Wanna go raid the fridge?"

He blinked. "But didn't you just—"

"Let's go!"

Without warning he was yanked towards the door by the hand around his, never being given a chance to unpack or even figure out just what was going on. The only certainly he had was that the trouble wasn't just coming from the kids, and by the end of this trip he was going to be bald.

* * *

**Adieu~**


	4. Superhero AU

**Superhero!AU**

* * *

Ace scowled as he leaned back in his chair, flicking his wrist to straighten the newspaper in his hands. As he read the front page article his frown deepened, and a few questions came to the forefront of his mind. The first was: since when the hell did he read the newspaper? But that was quickly dismissed as he read further, eyeing the straw hat in the black and white photograph as he sipped at his coffee.

Vaguely he heard someone shuffle into the kitchen behind him but never looked up, listening as a strangled yawn left the other as he stretched.

He snorted. "Can you believe this?" he asked, hitting the article for emphasis. "Rubber? What kind of power is _that_? 'I can stretch!' Who the fuck cares? I can set shit on fire!"

A tired gurgle left his company and he heard the steps stop at the fridge, sleepy hands reaching inside blindly for anything edible that could be safely shoved into his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm _sure_ he'll save a lot of people with an ability like that. So useful." He rolled his eyes. "And what's with that dingy old hat? And they're seriously naming him after it? They're calling a hero _Straw Hat_?"

A pile of food was dropped onto the table and his frown stretched as he finally lifted his eyes to see his little brother slump down into the seat across from him. Groggy eyes met his evenly.

"…It's you, isn't it?"

Luffy continued looking at him, his mouth curving into an impossibly-wide grin. "Shishishi!"

* * *

**Adieu~**


	5. Deadly Sins

**It started out as AceLu and morphed buuuuuuut here anyways :'D**

* * *

Ace glared dully across the table at his brother, watching as he shovelled enough food into his mouth to feed a small army, the little glutton. Yeah, he was used to it, but even after all those years he wasn't sure weather to be impressed or disgusted by it.

He glanced at the time on his cell phone. Half-past noon. Huh.

Now, Ace wasn't an overly _protective_ big brother, no, no, not at _all_—he was simply… cautious. Yeah. And maybe a little more attached than what was considered normal. So when he saw a vaguely-familiar redhead approach from further down the street he felt himself tense, and that unease only grew when he spotted a few others strolling along behind her

_Turn around. Walk the other way._

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked, tilting his head. "You're making a weird face, shishishi!"

Ace pulled his lips into a firm scowl as he reclined into the back of his chair, his hands folded stiffly in his lap. "S'nothing, Lu. Don't worry about it."

The boy clearly didn't believe him. Luffy was perceptive—a bit thick and slow on the uptake, but strangely insightful when he wanted to be. He shrugged it off, though, as Ace knew he would. His brother was never one to pry.

Of course, she _did_ head over that way, and Ace found his foot tap-tap-tapping against the ground as he watched her approach.

_Of-fucking-course._ This was supposed to be _his_ time with Luffy. Not _theirs._

When the girl came into his view, Luffy beamed. There was something about that smile that always made the elder sibling feel contented. As ease. Relaxed. Calm. And if he could choose anything in the world as the last thing he ever saw, it would be that expression. But when it was directed at others like that he felt his heart clench, and an unreasonable amount of envy curled in his gut the more he saw. He knew it was ridiculous, stupid, even—that was his brother, damn it, and his brother's _friend—_and even though he knew he should be happy that Lu had so many people he cared for… he wasn't. And he hated himself for it.

The others approached, gathering around the boy, and he forced a smile when Zoro nodded to him in acknowledgement.

And Luffy stood from the table. And Ace clenched his fist.

"I'm gonna go now, Ace!"

He smiled. "Yeah, Lu. You go have fun, alright?"

"Shishishi yep!" But then he paused. "You gonna be lonely? You should come, too!"

"Thanks. But I'll be fine, Lu."

"Y'sure?"

"Mhmm."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay! See you at home!"

"See ya."

He watched his brother turn away, the smile fading as soon as Luffy's eyes were off him, the boy making his way down the street and distancing himself from the restaurant. Ace felt hollow as he went. It was always like that.

And he always found himself alone, left behind. But what bothered him most—what got on his nerves above _everything_ else—was always the crowd. Luffy, surrounded by people—people who _cared_ about him, who loved him and wanted him and _missed_ him and—

…And he wished he could feel that. Wished he had that kind of support. When all he had was his brother, it was hard seeing him walk away.

He sighed, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. The sun was hot. Lu was gone. And he was left to pay the bill. They shouldn't have eaten outside.

"Hey, kid. You about done?"

"Hm?" he mumbled, his head thumping against the tabletop. Goddamn he was pathetic.

"Your bill," the man prodded.

Ah, right. Still hadn't paid, had he? Groaning, he sat back up, fishing his wallet out of his pocket and staring at the man—who had a rather… _odd _hairstyle, and a scar on the side of his face. "Sorry 'bout that. Here." He held out the cash.

The other smiled as he took it. "No problem. How was the food? Good?"

That guy seemed eager, his grin barely suppressed, and Ace raised an eyebrow curiously. "'S great, thanks…" his eyes caught on the name tag, "…Thatch."

That grin stretched wide across his face, and it _almost_ reminded Ace of his brother. "Anytime."

* * *

**Adieu~**


End file.
